Vertical cotton-opening machine



R. S. CURLEY VERTICAL COTTON OPENING MACHINE Filed Feb. 9. 1923 2 Sheets-Shoat 1 I 16 a 3 1; JP 5 J5 f 24 30 5 I 80 9 2E h H! 41 Fig] VE/V TOR:

W ATTORNEY July 8 1924.

1,500,! 113 R. s. CURLEY VERTICAL COTTON OPENING MACHINE Filed Feb. 9. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

//\/ VEN TOR Patented July 8, i924,

ROBERT S. CURLEY, O'I LOVJELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB) TO SACGLOWELL SHOPS, F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CGRPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

VERTICAL COTTON-OPENING MACHINE.

Application filed February 9, 1923. Serial No, 618,148.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, ROBERT S, CURLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing. at Lowell, in the county of lVIiddleseX and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vertical Cott0n0pening Machines, of which'the following is a specificationv This invention relates to cotton opening machines of the verticaltype. These inachines, as is well understood by those skilled Sid in this art usually operate on the cotton as it comes rom the bale breaker, and they open the fibre, partially clean it, and prepare it for the subsequent operatlons. Machines of the type with which the present invention is especially concerned, comprise a vertical shaft supporting a heater which revolves in ashell, the entire shell and beator being mounted in an outer casing The beater rotates at a very high speed, and the driving of the vertical shaft at this high speed under the various conditions encountered in mills has proved very troublesome, To devise a satisfactory driving mechanism for the beater shaft of a vertical cotton opener constitutes the chief object of the present invention,

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims,

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in vertical cross section, showing a cotton opening machine equipped with driving mechanism embodying this invention; a I

Fig, 2 is a plan view of the machlne shown in Fig, 1; and V Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the upper part of the machine shown in Figs, 1 and 2.

The machine shown comprises a heater 2 mounted on a vertical shaft 3 which is supported in upper and lower bearings l and 5, respectively, The heater rotates wlthin a shell 6 through which the cotton to be treat ed is fed, and all these parts are mounted within an outer casing 7 The arrangement of the parts so far described is substantially like that of a well known commercial cotton opening machine,

For the purpose of driving the vertical shaft 8, a horizontal jack shaft 8 is mounted in bearing brackets 9 and 10 supported'on the top of thecasing '7 at one side thereof A pulley 12 fast 011 the end of the'shaft 8 afi'ords a convenient means for belting this jack shaft to any convenient source of power; Mounted on the jack shaft 8 is a fast pulley 14 and a loose pulley 15. A pulley 16 is secured fast" to the upper end of the vertical shaft 3. At the opposite side of the casing 7 from the jack shaft 8 is mounted a horizontal guide pulley 17, This pull y revolves on a vertical stub shaft 18 which projects upwardly from a plate 19 that is supported on the top of the casing 7. The plate 19'is slotted to receive-two bolts 202O which serve the double purpose of guiding it for adjustmenttoward and from the jack shaft, and also of holding it in its;

The rearward end of adjusted position. this plate is turned downwardly, as shown at 21, Fig. l, and this depending portion is drilled and tapped to receive a horizontal bolt 22, the inner end of which bears against a guide block which is fixed in the casing and enters aslot in the plate 19: By turning the bolt 22 the plate 19 may be adjusted backward or forward, assuming, of course, that the bolts 2020 have first been loosened.

The pulleys l4:-1516 and 17 are all connected together by a belt 24 which is supported on the pulleys, as clearly shown in Figs, 1 and 2. It will be seen that this belt comprises two horizontal loops on the pulleys 16 and 17, respectively, and two vertical loops partially encircling the pulleysjltand 15, respectively, Inasmuch as the pulley 14 is fixed on the jack shaft it constitutes the driving pulley, The pulleys l5 and 1'? simply act as idlers, while the pulley 16 is the driven pulley, or the pulley to which the power is transmitted.

This arrangement provides a very convenient and reliable driving mechanism for the heater shaft 3, It avoids the use of pulleys located at awkward angles which has been a very troublesome feature of prior constructions, and it requires no attention in the setting up of the machine in the mill other than to make the desired adjustment for tension on the belt. The adjustment of the guide pulley 17 enables the operative to maintain at all times the tension on the belt which will afford the best running con ditions l The fact that the drive is selfcontained and forms a permanent part of the machine is an advantage in installing the machine in a mill, since it is simply necessary to belt the jack shaft to some convenient source of power in the mill. This driving mechanism also is superior to gear drives since it runs more quietly and avoids the difficulties which attend the use of gears, due to the fact that they must be lubricated. The lubricant frequently Works into the cotton where it proves very troublesome.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. A cotton opening machine comprising, in combination, an outer casing, a vertical beater mounted in said casing, a vertical shaft supporting said heater, bearings supporting said shaft, a driven pulley mounted on the upper end of said shaft above said casing, a horizontal jack shaft supported on the top of said casing at one side thereof, a horizontal guide pulley supported on the top of said casing at the other side thereof, two pulleys mounted on said jack shaft at opposite sides of the vertical plane passing through the axes of said guide pulley and said vertical shaft, one of the pulleys on said jack shaft being fast and the other loose, and a belt supported on all of said pulleys and driven by said fast'pulley, said belt comprising tWo horizontal loops on said guide pulley and said driven pulley, respectively, and two vertical loops on said fast and loose pulleys, respectively.

2. A cotton opening machine comprising, in combination, an outer casing, a vertical beater mounted in said casing, a vertical shaft supporting said beater, bearings supporting said shaft, a driven pulley mounted on the upper end of said shaft above said casing, a horizontal ack shaft supported on the top of said casing at one side thereof, a horizontal guide pulley, means supporting said guide pulley on the top of said casing at the opposite side thereof from said jack shaft for adjustment toward and from said jack shaft, said guide and driven pulleys being located in horizontal planes below and above said jack shaft, respectively, two pulleys mounted on said jack shaft at opposite sides of the vertical planepassing through 

